Fostering in Brent

Foster with Brent Council and help give local children the loving and safe environment they deserve.

Contents

Caring for children and young people who live in Brent

Choosing to foster for Brent Council means that local children and young people who are unable to live with their families can remain geographically close to their family home. In most cases they can continue going to the same school or nursery, church or faith group and regularly see the friends they have made. Most importantly, they can continue to see their parents, siblings and extended family members on supervised visits without having to travel too far.

Fostering with your local council keeps children and young people who need foster care in the local community, in familiar surroundings which we know can provide a better outcome for them as they grow up. Becoming a foster carer with Brent Council means joining a supportive and passionate community dedicated to transforming children's lives.

Benefits, allowances and support

It is important that you feel financially secure when you foster a Brent child. In April 2025 we increased our fostering allowances to ensure our allowances are competitive.

The allowances are to reward the foster carer for their skills as well as providing for the expenses involved in looking after the child.

They are made up of an allowance to cover the needs of the child, calculated on their age and a fee element for the carer, based on their level of skill and experience.

Age of child or young person Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
0 to 4 years £232.19 £378 £412
5 to 10 years £244.80 £391 £426
11 to 15 years £278.52 £433 £467
16+ years £308.58 £460 £495

In addition to this allowance, Brent foster carers receive:

  • a free laptop or tablet to ensure they can access virtual meetings, attend virtual training and keep up to date with emails and logs
  • support with items such as a bed or cot, mattress, bedding and a car seat to help get set up
  • one-off payments for special occasions throughout the year like birthdays, holidays and festivals
  • £1,000 referral reward when you refer a friend or family member who become a Brent foster carer
  • a Blue Light card with more than 15,000 discounts from national and local retailers
  • dedicated one-to-one support from an experienced social worker
  • peer support through the Mockingbird family programme
  • 24/7 telephone support
  • access to free therapeutic support and training to support foster carers along their foster caring journey
  • membership with The Fostering Network
  • annual social and celebration events for foster carers, including a summer seaside trip and end of year celebration ball

Transfer to Brent Council

If you are already a foster carer and would like to transfer, we would love to hear from you. We are passionate about supporting our foster carers and believe there are some great reasons why you should join Brent Fostering.

As a local authority we are not profit making, so our money goes into the care of children and their foster carers. Our fostering team will make your transfer to us as smooth and straightforward as possible.

What are the steps to becoming a foster carer with Brent?

Step 1 - Make contact

Call Foster with West London on 020 8753 1075 or join us to hear more at one of our information sessions. During this initial call we will provide you with advice and support you to make a decision as to whether it is the right time for you to foster.

If you are ready to progress with your journey to becoming a foster carer, an initial enquiry will be completed over the phone to learn more about you and your family. If you meet the initial screening criteria, you will be passed to the local authority you want to foster for who will book an initial home visit and a member of the team will visit you.

Step 2 - Training

Attend our Skills-to-Foster 3-day course which will equip you with essential skills required to care for a vulnerable child or young person. Attendance at the course forms part of the assessment process and all applicants are required to attend. 

Depending on when the training course starts, you may be invited to attend the course before the assessment begins or during the assessment.

Step 3 - Assessment (Stage 1 and 2)

Once we have completed your initial enquiry and an initial home visit has been carried out, a decision will be made to progress to Stage 1.

Both you and your allocated worker will sign an Assessment Stage 1 agreement outlining the process involved. During the Assessment Stage 1 a number of checks, required by the government under the fostering regulations, will be undertaken which includes:

  • your local authority
  • probation
  • finance
  • employment
  • education

In addition to the above, we will complete personal references and education checks for your children. You will be expected to undertake a health assessment with your doctor. We will need to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on you, your partner and any members of your household who are over 18 years old.

We will also agree on a timeframe for this work to be undertaken. You will be offered the opportunity to undertake Skills-to-Foster training at this stage.

Upon completion of Assessment Stage 1, you will be allocated a social worker to carry out an assessment of your background, life experiences and the qualities you would bring to fostering.

This is called Assessment Stage 2 of the fostering process. This will be reviewed halfway through by the principal social worker within the team to check any plans that need to be put into place.

Step 4 - Approval

You will be invited to a Fostering Panel that will assess your application alongside the government fostering regulations and make a recommendation for your approval as a foster carer and the final decision will be made by the agency decision maker shortly after.

Step 5 - Post-approval

You will be enrolled on our payment system and allocated a supervising social worker who will help you prepare yourself and your home for a child or young person coming into your care, and your life as a foster  carer begins!

After one year, you will go back to a Fostering Panel which will review your first year as a foster carer.

Start today

If you would like further information, with no-obligation, please send us your details and one of our fostering team will get in touch with you.

Embed webform
How can we help you?

We collect and use your personal data as outlined in our privacy notice (link opens in a new window).

Get an info pack